Chapter 7 - Copacetic

Lazy days, lazy nights, where would I be without my camera?

                      (Apologies to the BeeGees)

But, there it is. Lazy days followed by equally lazy nights. Just filling in the time and seeing what's around the corner or just down the road.

And most of the time you look for those lazy days when the light is right and it isn't raining. Then you can get some nice pictures of the sunset from the bluff behind the house overlooking the beach.

Seriously, it's mostly a matter of checking what time the sun will set and then watching out the window to see what the light is doing. If it's cloudy and rainy then forget about it. Then I just lean back in the ol' recliner and tune the telly into The O'Reilly Factor.

But on those rare occasions when the sun just happens to be shining, I simply grab a camera and head to the back of the house and onto the bluff. From there, I get a great view up and down the beach and, more to the point, I get a really great view of the sun setting over the Pacific Ocean.

Like this one.

It's fun and it's simple. I know I've said it before but, with all these modern marvels of science and technology all we have to do today is find something to shoot and then aim the camera. POW!! The camera does the rest. 

I don't have to focus, meter, adjust, bracket...nuttin!! All I'm responsible for is finding something to shoot and then pointing the camera in that direction. Oh, yeah, I also have to zoom the lens in and out. Hahaha, it's a tough gig.

And to put a fine point on exactly how lazy I really am ... I don't even have to fuss about loading the camera with film. It's just so freakin' easy. And, not being constricted by the limited number of shots available on film, I never, ever, ever have to worry about how many more pictures I can take. I just, literally, point the camera lens and shoot and shoot and shoot and shoot...ad infinitum. To my little heart's content.

I love it, I really, really do.

But, let's get back to those lazy days, Okay?

And what to do when the sun comes out, the weather warms up and you get that itchy feeling that says, "Go on, Man!! Get out of the house for a while!!" When you're retired and have nothing else to do with your time the biggest problem when you hear that little voice is, where to go!!

Fortunately, here on the Central Coast of Oregon, the biggest problem with where to go is there are so doggone many places to choose from. At times, you can be over-whelmed by all the choices.

But it was easy for us ... the whales are migrating south. Therefore, that's the direction we went, towards Depoe Bay, the Whale-Watching Capitol of Oregon. But on the way, we stopped at Taft Beach.

Fun Facts: Grey whales (Eschrichtius Robustus) can be found in the shallow coastal waters of the eastern North Pacific. These majestic whales make one of the longest migrations of all mammals, averaging 10,000  - 14,000 miles round trip. And, that means, they go right by the Central Coast of Oregon ... every time.

The majority of grey whales leave the Bering Sea in the North Pacific in mid-November to mid-December to make the long trip down to the warm waters of Baja California and the Gulf of California. It is in these warm waters where mating and calving take place. 

Carol was off, searching for agates and whatever other treasures she could find there.

More Fun Facts: From the Bering Sea, the whales travel down the North American Pacific coast during the months of November through January or early February. Some whales do not complete the southbound migration stopping off, instead, along the coasts of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon or California.

Migrating whales stay conveniently close to shore in waters less than 600 feet until they reach Point Conception. There the mainland makes a sharp turn and at this point some whales follow the coast and others continue due south through the Channel Islands.

The southward trip to Baja and the Gulf of California takes 2-3 months. When they reach these areas, the whales remain in the warm Baja lagoons for 2-3 months while the baby whales build up a thick blubbery coat. 

A view across Siletz Bay towards the south side of the Bay. You can tell the stormy weather is not far away. It's never really far away here during the winter months.

I was able, using my new Nikon P900, to reach across the bay and capture an image of these two taking a walk along the shore. 

In the summer, there are large herds of harbor seals that stretch out along this beach to take in the sun.

Our side of the beach, after nearly a month of heavy rains and stormy weather, was littered with a surprisingly large amount of driftwood. There were some parts of the beach where you couldn't walk without stepping on, over or around driftwood.

So of course I wanted a picture of at least one piece of driftwood. The texture and minimal patterns of the sand intrigued me. Plus the colors all work together.

Hey, c'mon, I've said it before ... MBMPs.

(My Blog, My Pictures)

Reaching out with the long lens, I caught a candid of Carol taking a 'selfie' with her trusty cell phone camera while next to this large driftwood castle built on the beach.

Someone put a lot of effort into this ... thing. Hahaha, and I bet these same kids, if their Mom asked them to clean their room, would gripe and complain because it was soooooo difficult.

There's that couple again. 

Big waves out there as another storm starts coming in to shore.

When we were finished at Taft, we motored on down south to Boiler Bay to try our luck at spotting some whales. Well, Carol tried her luck. I've seen them before and I doubt they'll be doing much of anything different now. 

In this picture, she'd moved out towards the point to get a picture with her trusty cell phone camera.

And, by the way, she spotted five spouts while we were there. She's getting pretty good about finding them. 

Me? Meh, not so much. 

I walked over to the northern side of the park and got this picture of Boiler Bay. Heavy seas do create  drama in a picture. The light was right, too.

The further south we drove the closer the storm got to landfall.

Next stop, Depoe Bay. We've been here a number of times before and never found the Whale Center open for business. 

Hah!! Not today!!

Nope, today the Center was open and busily engaged in watching for whales.

It's a neat little two-story building that sits next to the channel into the World's Smallest Harbor.

And they have some interesting exhibits out for folks to take a gander at. Grey Whales eat by sifting food through their baleen. There's a piece of whale's baleen on the table, the yellowish brush-like piece just right of center.

If you're real lucky, you could find a piece of baleen washed up on the beach.

Grey Whales fear only two predators: Man and Killer Whales, or Orcas if you'd prefer.

Here are the mandibles of a Killer Whale. Kinda reminds me of an alligator's jaw.

Fun Facts: Well, fun for everyone but the Grey Whale. Groups of Orca's can easily kill a mid-sized Grey Whale. Full-grown adults are too big for even a group of Orca's to kill. Baby whales are especially vulnerable and so, consequently, the Grey Whales give birth to their young in shallow lagoon waters to, in part, protect the newborn calves from predators like sharks and Orcas.

So they hunt in packs like wolves. 

Beautiful downtown Depoe Bay. 

There's not a single business in that strip that isn't directly involved in the tourist industry in some way or another.

I don't know why this is but, evidently, tourists really love buying books!! There's at least three book stores in LCO that I am aware of and there is one on this strip that sells books. They even have a book store in Taft, too. 

I don't get it cuz whenever I went on vacation the last thing I wanted to spend money on was a book.

Looking north from the Whale Center. The storm is still hanging out to sea. By the time we ate lunch, it was making landfall.

We saw several of these Oystercatchers on the rock formations in front of the sea wall in Depoe Bay. They are funny looking little birds.

Fun Facts: Each species of Oystercatcher has black feathers; a few species are black on top with white feathers underneath. And all Oystercatchers, like the one in the picture, have large bills that are either bright orange or bright red.

Oystercatchers don't subsist only on oysters. In fact, there is great variety in the diets of the different oystercatchers; each has a slightly different bill shape that dictates the foods they specialize in.

OK, quick quiz!!  Using the picture below answer these two questions:

1.What species of oystercatcher did I get a picture of? 

2. Name two differences between the Eurasian and American Oystercatcher.

Did you guess Black Oystercatcher? You're right!! Good job. As for #2, the differences between the Eurasian and American Oystercatchers are slight but still significant; the two differences are in the coloring of the eyes and the coloring of the legs and feet.

Looking south from the Whale Center I could see the waves smashing against the shore. 

There's a storm a-comin', Matey.

But I wasn't worried about the storm because, I was headin' into O'Downey's Irish Pub for some liquid bread in a manner of speakin'.

I've wanted to stop by here for a while. The first time we stopped we were an hour too early and they hadn't opened yet. 

Not today, Laddie.

It's an interesting bar. The owner had to fit it into an oddly shaped room. There's the small bar up the stairs. The room I'm shooting from is in a small dining area. There is a long hall up the stairs and to the right leading to the restrooms. They've put up small tables and stools in the hallway, too. Just to the left here is a small area where I think they put the band plays.

Key word for this bar is 'small' or, as the Irish in the movies might say, "wee."

Regardless of the size, they had both Harp and Smithwick's. Smithwick's is, as we all know, Ireland's Oldest Ale.

Fun Facts: Smithwick's was originally created as a special brew for the first Kilkenny Beer Festival. It was later renamed Smithwick's No. 1 but is known today as Smithwick's. The company was acquired by Guinness in 1965.

Founded by John Smithwick in 1710, it was originally brewed in St. Francis Abbey Brewery in Kilkenny which is Ireland's oldest operating brewery. The brewery is situated on the site of a Franciscan Abbey where monks had brewed ale since the 14th century and ruins of the original abbey still remain on its grounds.

I find it funny that one company, Guinness, owns all three of the major brands of Irish beer. No wonder Guinness is so popular; you'd be too, if you could control the major competition.  

Smithwick's is an Irish Red Ale style beer while Harp is an Irish Lager. Guinness? Well, that's an Irish Dry Stout. That about covers the field, now, doesn't it.

And it were good!!!

After the refreshments, it was time to head back to LCO. But first let's take a closer look at the business district of Depoe Bay. 

Oh, yeah, I'm quite certain you can find all kinds of useful household stuff on this boardwalk.

Heading back, I stopped at Seagrove. It's a Home Owner's Community set on the east side of The 101 near Gleneden Beach.

As I said, it's an Owner's Association and, obviously, you damn well better get a permit from the design committee before starting any outside work. 

Or else!!

This warm and friendly greeting is prominently displayed as you enter the development. And it, the development, not the sign, has been there for a while.

Woo, woo!! Everything's coming up Seagrove. Well, most everything. Where'd those pesky Beavers come from!?!

Lately, I've been working at being a bit more diligent with my exercising. I hate to say it but I've 'blossomed' during the past year (Too many Reubens?  Hah!! There could never be such a thing as too many Reubens!!) and I've resolved to start a exercise regimen.

Although, to be honest, calling it an "exercise regimen" is a bit ambitious. It's more like a daily activity. For me it's going for a walk. I'm keeping track of how well I'm doing on the walks and I try for minutes walking (or, to be more accurate, time spent on my feet) to measure rather than distance. I chose to use minutes as a measure for my walking because whenever I do go out for a walk, I always take a camera. That means I am, quite often, stopping to get a picture here or a picture there.

Like this one. 

Haha, "When the red, red robin comes bob, bob bobbin' along" is a sure sign that Spring is near, right!?!

Or maybe not so much around Oregon. I saw this guy puffing himself up for a little warmth but, honestly, I've seen robins around the city at least once each month the whole time I've been here. 

Hmmmmm, maybe this old saw doesn't quite hold true up here in the GAPNW. (Great American Pacific Northwest)

The pictures I take on these walks run a large gamut. Like from robins to this mosaic of stone set in concrete. This is just a detail of a larger design that is easily 7 feet in diameter. And this was just one mosaic of several in the driveway of this house.

Someone ruined their back to get this vision of theirs embedded into concrete. I can't imagine the hours to collect and then sort the stone by color and size. Then, after all that work, they mixed up the concrete, spread it and painstakingly pressed their stones into the damp concrete. And they did this all more than once!!

Wow!!

Mailboxes. If anyone can help me understand why I keep going back to this theme, please, do.

I am not quite sure of what I'm after when I shoot these. I'm shooting them in their entirety while I normally shoot things in detail. I like pattern, repetition in my pictures but, then, I've shot single mailboxes. 

Well, for some unknown reason I'm drawn to these things, for now. I'll ride this pony until he gives out and then, as is my wont, move on over to a new passion (obsession?) with my camera. Until then, please stop moaning every time you see a picture of mailboxes here on my blog.

Pulling things together from the last week or so, I realized I haven't really gotten out and taken many pictures. Normally, I fill up the computer's memory every three (or less) months with pictures. I have to store them on a stick and then I get to start all over again on the computer. 

Lately, however, I've been in a state of torpidity regards my photography. I've taken the cameras along with me when I've gone out but I don't seem to want to go through the trouble, etc., of breaking them out, finding pictures and then taking them.

But on this one it was rather easy. Sitting on my recliner, I heard Carol exclaim "Oh, look!! There's a rainbow!!" and, sure enough, there it was, just to the north of the house. All I had to do was grab a convenient camera and shoot it through the large picture window.

Kinda cool seeing that large of a rainbow floating over the casino.

We went on our first bird walk of 2016 last Saturday. It was down at the Hatfield Marine Science Center across the bay from Newport. 

There's Mark Elliott, the birding expert and guide for most of the walks. 

It wasn't too bad out there. After we got started, there was a steady mist that made us miserable but that was about it.

Plenty of birds were spotted including a Northern Harrier. What with the mist and my own ennui, I didn't take but a couple of pictures.

And this shot of a couple of doggone Starlings was the only bird picture I got.

Another day and another bird. A Thompson's Warbler. 

After watching that frustrating and exhilarating Seahawks victory today, we headed out for a 2.6 mile walk over to the Retirement Home where Katie, the BSA Troop Committee Chair, works. During the Christmas Tree Sale several businessmen had stopped by and donated money to the Troop and I wrote a couple of letters of appreciation to them

Long story short, I was walking them over so Katie could sign them and finally get them into the mail. Finally.

Hey, it was a beautiful day and since the next 9 days are supposed to be rainy and gray, why not get out while the getting out was good, right!?!

Walking up 34th, I've found one of the homes that has about 10 bird feeders out. On my walks I've noticed that around 1300 or so, I can always find these Warblers there. And, sure enough, I found them there again, today.

Flashy little devil, isn't he?

Looking south down The 101. Always busy, even in the Off-Tourist Season.

There's our Small-Town America hospital. Hahaha, looks like some pre-fab metal buildings. Sometimes I have to remind myself that this is a small town and it's not going to have the Big-City amenities.

I forget. But I appreciate that we have this facility in our small, 8,040 (2013) town.

Haha, that's mighty small, y'all!!

We started off this catch-up session with some sunset shots and so, why not, let's end it with same shots, different day.

I had a feeling it was going to be a beautiful sunset just by the clarity and brightness of the day and, doggone it, I was right. Sunset today was at 1654 and so I was out on the bluff around 1640.

I wasn't disappointed. The seas were rough again ... another storm is headed our way ushering in the next nine or so days of precipitation.

The wind was blowing back on the waves as they rushed into shore creating a mist above each one.

I turned the camera northward to catch this scene along the beach up by the Casino. Look at all the people who still flock to the beach even when it's cold. Many of them planned to be on the beach at this time just to catch a picture of the sunset...like me.

And it didn't disappoint.

Not much of anything but a whole lot of something. Seems finding ways to stay occupied isn't all that difficult. Lots of times it's just taking advantage of the good weather and getting myself out the door. Once I clear that hurdle everything else seems to fall into place.

And I realize even though I've felt like I've been in a picture-taking slump, I still have a good number of pictures piled up in my iPhoto. Ah, well, I remind myself this slump isn't permanent. Heck, even Babe Ruth struck out once in a while. 

Everything's copacetic.

And life is good.

          Hooah!!